Friday, December 12, 2008

Bush Live on Planet Earth: Custom Album Art

So what exactly has the band been up to since the 1990s? Well they have been busy creating a new direction. We hope you enjoy our album art.

Gavin Rossdale formed a new band, Institute, in 2004, serving as their lead vocalist and guitarist, just as in Bush. Chris Traynor also joined the band, as lead guitarist. (In addition to playing in Institute, Traynor also joined the reunited metal band Helmet in 2004 on bass; he quit the band in 2006.) Institute released one album, Distort Yourself, but failed to achieve much commercial success in spite of opening for U2's Vertigo Tour at some shows. Institute broke up in 2006 and Rossdale then embarked on a solo career. In 2007, he covered the John Lennon song "Mind Games" for the Lennon tribute album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. His first solo album, Wanderlust, supported by leading single "Love Remains the Same," was released in June 2008. "Wanderlust" was originally intended to be the next Bush album but after originally agreeing to take part in the Bush reunion, guitarist Nigel Pulsford opted out as he doesn't care to tour anymore.

Rossdale has also ventured into the world of acting, appearing in the films Zoolander, Little Black Book, The Game of Their Lives, Constantine, How To Rob a Bank and others.

Robin Goodridge recorded with the British rock band Elyss in 2004, although they have not released any new material since. In 2006, Goodridge began drumming for indie rock band Spear of Destiny, and appeared on their 2007 album, Imperial Prototype. During the summer of 2008, he toured the UK with British rock band Stone Gods and on 6th October 2008, the band's website announced that he had joined the band full time.

Bush The Band History

The name Bush came about because they used to live in Shepherd’s Bush, London. In Canada, they were once known as BushX, because the 1970s band Bush, led by Domenic Troiano, owned the Canadian rights to the name. In April 1997, it was announced that Troiano had agreed to let them use the name Bush in Canada without the letter X, in exchange for donating $20,000 each to the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.

Frustrated by the disappointing sales of their fifth album, Golden State (2001), and the lack of support the band was receiving from Atlantic, the band decided to split up. Band members went to work on various other musical projects, most notably Gavin Rossdale, who formed a new band, Institute. In recent interviews, Rossdale said he has not ruled out the possibility of Bush getting back together, but says the band is “on ice” at the moment.

In 2005, Bush released The Best of ‘94 - ‘99, a greatest hits compilation, and Zen X Four, a CD and DVD which features the band’s music videos. Zen X Four was released on Kirtland Records and had its own website (no longer active).

The band’s back catalogue was acquired by Kirtland Records following a lucrative deal between the president of Kirtland (former Deep Blue Something bandmember) and the president of Trauma Records. The deal included the rights to Bush’s entire discography, as well as the rights to No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom.

History

Success, Sixteen Stone

The timing was right for Bush. Grunge music did not at the time have a band whose sales were as big as pop artists, also all the first wave grunge bands came out of America, leaving music fans East of the Atlantic only seeing their favorite bands when they released an album. When Bush came out with the Sixteen Stone, the UK had a grunge band to love, and soon America caught with hit songs in the UK like “Machine Head,” “Glycerine,” “Everything Zen,” and “Comedown,” which caught the band attention in the States.

In 1995 Bush did some serious touring and America caught began to see some new faces in the Seattle grunge scene like Foo Fighters (featuring Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl on guitar and vocals) who have now released 5 platinum albums and Candlebox who hit big with their self titled debut featuring the hit “Far Behind” which is still heard on Alternative radio today. They released two more albums throughout the late 1990s to limited critical and commercial success.

Razorblade Suitcase

In late 1996 Bush released the first single “Swallowed” from their second album entitled Razorblade Suitcase the song spent 7 weeks on top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album hit number 1 in America and placed high in many European countries. Razorblade Suitcase did not match the commercial success of Sixteen Stone by 2:1, and many people now and then compare(d) the album to Nirvana’s 1993 album In Utero, due to the team they hired for artwork, and the producer Steve Albini, were involved in In Utero. Many people knew Bush would soon decline in sales due to Britpop bands like Oasis, and Blur replacing grunge band’s place for popularity in the UK, however Britpop never became huge in America. When Razorblade Suitcase did not feature anymore smash hits Bush released the remix album Deconstructed in 1997, which charted in the top 40 respectively.

The Science of Things

In 1999, Bush released the album The Science of Things, the album was Bush’s first studio album to not reach the top 10 in America (it hit number 11), its sales are meager compared to its predeccessors, Sixteen Stone outsold it 6:1 and Razorblade Suitcase outsold it 3:1. Although it did have the hits “The Chemicals Between Us,” which reached the top of the modern rock tracks chart for several weeks, and “Letting the Cables Sleep” which has seen some airplay since the album’s release. It is generally agreed upon by critics that the band’s experimentation with a more techno sound tended to degrade the quality of The Science of Things.

Break up, Golden State

By 2001, the third wave of post-grunge had arrived and many were coming with bands like Linkin Park, and Lifehouse having major hits and Nickelback on the rise, Bush was poised for failure. Also nu-metal bands such as Limp Bizkit and KoRn had become extremely popular in between Razorblade Suitcase and Golden State. Although Bush had high hopes for the album and are proud of it, they did not have much chance with no hit single akin to “Glycerine,” “Swallowed,” or “The Chemicals Between Us,” and the fact that the band’s new label Atlantic was not supporting the band at all. The album did poorly compared to Bush’s 90s albums, it reached number 22. Soon after the band called it quits, they released their first non-studio release since 1997’s Deconstructed, their Greatest Hits, it did not fare as well as Deconstructed.

Seen by the simplistic cover, especially compared with the complicated and artistic ones preceding it, the album was an attempt to get back to the basics that allowed Sixteen Stone to succeed. However, fans from the 90’s had left, and the next generation did not pick up on Bush’s blend of post-grunge and techno.

Members

* Gavin Rossdale – vocals, guitar* Dave Parsons – bass (former member of second generation punk band The Partisans, as well as Transvision Vamp)* Robin Goodridge – drums, percussion* Sacha Putnam – keyboards (left band)* Chris Traynor – lead guitar on Golden State tour* Nigel Pulsford – lead guitar, string arrangements (left the band to spend more time with his family in 2002)

Rossdale is pursuing a solo music career album due out fall of 2007, Nigel also is pursuing a solo music venture and Goodridge is drummer with UK rock band Elyss.